Albus Potter and the Master's Ring
by Reecey-Boy
Summary: It's Albus Potter's first year at Hogwarts and he has a lot to deal with, Scorpius Malfoy, a fish out of water muggle born, American exchange students and a series of mysterious events. It looks like trouble runs in the family.
1. Chapter 1

Al breathed a sigh of relief when they were all on the train.

"You okay?" Rose asked, looking concern.

"Yeah," he smiled, "I was just kinda worried something would kick off between Dad and Malfoy."

"Tell me about it," she sighed as they followed an irate James down the corridor on the train, "Mum says there's no problem there, but come on, they tried to kill each other!"

James shoved past a pair of twins and commandeered a compartment. The twins in question glared at him, and the people in the compartment ran after he growled at them.

By the time Rose and Al got in there, James was already asleep by the window.

"It's like they think we're stupid or something," Al grumbled, "'Oh, don't worry Al, everything's fine! It's not like he sided with the man who killed my parents or anything!'" Al put on his best fake smile as he said this.

"'Oh, nothing will happen Rosie! It's not like Malfoy was a member of an organisation that tried to kill people like me and your grandparents! Everything was hunky dory!'"

Al and Rose rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"It's getting really annoying."

"God, I know, and don't you think it's just going to be worse at school? Malfoy's sending his son to Hogwarts this year, I'm not looking forward to having to deal with him."

Al groaned, "oh great, like we're not going to get enough people trying to outdo us. Not to mention those exchange students."

"Yeah, but I bet they won't be that bad. Hell, it might even be nice to have some people around who don't know who we are."

"That's true, how much do they know about the war in America anyway?"

"I hear it's not a whole load," Rose said authoritatively, "so I have hope that at least they might treat us like normal people."

"That's true, but it's not much consolation to having to deal with Malfoy Junior."

"Well, if it's any consolation he's been saddled with a stupid name. His parents named him _Scorpius_."

Al snorted, earning an angry glare from his brother. He mumbled an apology and James went back to sleep.

"And I thought I had it bad."

"Yeah, at least you can shorten your name to Al."

Al nodded as James' friends came into the compartment.

* * *

><p>About two hours later, after James had woken up, there was a knock on the compartment door.<p>

"Deal with it Al," James ordered, not even turning his head from where it was leaning on the window and he was disinterestedly watching Rose and Dylan playing chess.

Al grumbled and answered the compartment door. He was rather surprised at who was on the other side.

"Ah, just the Potter I wanted to see," Malfoy said. Albus was surprised that he sounded like he meant it. "I need you to come with me."

Albus stared.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, "I don't have all day... Albus, was it?"

"Albus?"

"Yes," Malfoy replied levelly, "your name. I am using it in order to make a good impression because I want you to come with me."

"Who's that?" James called.

"It's, uh-"

"Steve," Malfoy called, making his voice deeper, "Steve Goldberg. I just wanted to borrow Albus, since I think we're both going to be in Gryffindor."

"Well, don't just stand there," James grumbled at Albus, "go talk to him."

Albus nodded mutely and left the compartment, closing the door behind him. Malfoy led him down the corridor until they reach another compartment. He stopped and turned to face Albus.

"This is important, remember that not everyone is like your father."

"Huh?"

Albus was confused, first Malfoy wanted him for some reason, and now he was telling him a self evident fact.

"Just... keep that in mind," Malfoy commanded, steering Albus inside.

To Albus' surprise, there was only one person in there and she was crying her eyes out.

"Malfoy, what... why is she crying?"

Malfoy closed the door and sat next to the girl.

"She's a muggle- sorry, first generation witch."

"So? She not dealing with the move to Hogwarts?"

"No, she's not and not for the reason you think, either."

"Huh?"

"She's first generation, right? That means her parents and siblings aren't witches and wizards, she's leaving everything she knows. To make it even worse, she wants to be a jennytist."

Albus frowned, "a what?"

"A geneticist," the girl mumbled.

"Right, sorry," Malfoy said, patting her shoulder, "it's a science career. Something she needs to go to mu- non-magical university for. I don't know what a 'GESC' is, but I know you can't get them at Hogwarts."

"So, uh, what's that got to do with me?"

"You're A. Potter."

"I know I'm a Potter, I don't need reminding," Albus said petulantly.

"No, as in you're the only person in the letter 'p' to be sorted this year."

"So?"

"Well, I'm S. Malfoy. This is S. O'Sullivan."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that I'm a few people before her in the register, and you are directly after her," Malfoy explained, "I need you to keep an eye on her in the line."

"Well, okay."

Malfoy nodded and smiled, "thank you, Albus."

"It's no problem, she's having a hard time, after all."

"Good, now. I'm going to make you an offer, you don't have to take it, but at least think about it before you make up your mind."

Albus gave him a suspicious look. It seemed a little cruel, considering the fact Malfoy was currently mumbling that everything would be okay to S. O'Sullivan.

"I was hoping that you might, well, this is difficult to ask."

"Just spit it out already."

"I was hoping that in the likely event Suzanne isn't sorted into the same house as me, you could try and plead with the sorting hat to get yourself sorted into the same house as her."

Albus stared.

"_What_?"

"I know, it's a two in three chance that you won't be in Gryffindor, but I need someone I can trust to keep an eye on Suzanne throughout school. I'll do whatever I can to help you out in return, short of getting myself expelled, of course."

Albus didn't really have a response for this, he was trying to figure out what his family's reaction would be, why Malfoy was doing this and how he knew that would work.

"_Please_," Malfoy begged, "I'd try it myself, but I'm before Suzanne and I know I'll end up in Slytherin. I can't make her try to be in that house, she'll get hurt."

"H-how do you know you can trust me?" Albus asked.

"Because you're a Potter, doing the right thing is in your blood."

"Hey, I'll have you know I've knocked teeth out of both my brother and my sister."

"That doesn't count," Suzanne said quietly, "I've done it too."

Malfoy smiled at her before turned back to Albus.

"See? Look, your parents are reasonable people. I'll explain the situation to them if you don't end up in Gryffindor, I'm sure they'll understand and approve."

Albus nodded, "well... tell you what. If Sue here tells the hat she wants into Gryffindor, it'll happen."

Suzanne and Malfoy stared at him.

"What?" It was Malfoy's turn to be totally shocked.

"My dad says that if you ask the hat to put you in Gryffindor, it will," Albus said to Suzanne, sitting on her other side, "do that and everything will turn out fine."

She nodded.

Albus grinned and patted her shoulder.

"Okay, Score, can I have a quick word with you?"

Malfoy blinked, but nodded, "I'll be back in a moment, Suzanne."

Once they were outside, Albus asked Malfoy a single question.

"Why are you doing this for her?"

Malfoy thought for a moment.

"I saw her parents saying goodbye on the platform, it was like they were expecting to never see her again. She put on this brave face the entire time, like nothing was wrong." He shrugged, "I just struck up a conversation with her, and she told me about her dreams. It was during that conversation that she burst out into tears. When I asked what was wrong, she said she couldn't do it because she was a witch. She'd be turning people into snails for the rest of her life."

"Why snails?"

"I don't know, I'll ask."

Albus looked at him curiously, "so... that's why you're helping her?"

"Sort of, I just... can't stand the thought of being a witch or wizard ruining someone's life like that. My parents always glorified it, after all."

Albus snorted, "glorified, right."

Malfoy gave him a dark look.

"We're not like that."

"Well, you're not. Forgive me for being sceptical about your dad."

"Oooh, sceptical, big word."

"Hey, I read!"

Malfoy laughed, "of course you do. I'm only joking, anyway. Thank you for the help."

Albus nodded, "no problem." He paused for a moment before grinning, "and I know what I want from you in return for helping Sue."

"Yes?" Malfoy asked, expression hardening a little.

"I want you to be my friend."

"Oh, well, very well," Malfoy smiled, "I suppose I can do that."

"Great!" Albus said, "I'll see you guys at the castle."

Malfoy nodded, "I'll stay with Suzanne in the meantime."

Albus grinned and jogged back to his compartment with a wave. He resolved to refer to Malfoy as Score in his internal monologue from now on.

* * *

><p>They met just after they got off the boats, Albus being stuck with some other first years, including Rose and the actual Steve Goldberg. Score was pretty amazing to recall the name of an obviously Gryffindor bound student on the spur of the moment like that. Having him as a friend was going to make Hogwarts a lot more fun and a lot easier, Albus thought. Even if Rose was already giving him evil looks from a distance.<p>

Sue looked a lot better, she'd stopped crying and had washed her face. Score was sticking close to her though, ready to spring into action in case she needed moral support.

"Hey guys," Albus grinned, "how you holding up?"

"Better," Sue said with a small smile, "I'm sorry about the crying earlier."

"Oh, it's no problem," Albus grinned in reply, "I'm sure I'd be bawling too if I was a squib and had to go to a muggle school."

Score gave him a dark look and Sue looked confused.

"What's a squib? And what's a muggle?"

"Muggle is a not particularly nice word for someone who's not a witch or wizard," Score said, not looking too happy, "and a squib is someone who was born to witches and wizards but doesn't have magic."

Sue frowned, looking thoughtful.

"Doesn't have magic, even though their parents do?" she mumbled, more to herself than to Score or Albus, "well... there goes that hypothesis."

"What's a hypothesis?" Albus asked Score quietly.

"I don't know, but I'll look it up later," Score replied.

Sue was still deep in thought when Hagrid started leading them into the hall.

"Uh, Score," Albus said, before they were separated.

"Yes?"

"Um, maybe you should ask the hat to be in Gryffindor, too? Then we can hang out, all three of us?"

Score gave him a sad smile, "I doubt it would work, Albus. I accepted this a long time ago."

Once he was separated from them by the annoying presence of A. and F. Monmouth and P. Nott, Sue asked Albus a question.

"What's the big deal? Why is he acting like being in Slytherin is a death sentence?"

"It's... well, we get sorted by our personalities, and Slytherins tend to be ambitious. Old Salazar also tried to keep the people in his house pure-blooded too, so there was a lot of backstabbing and plotting going on," Albus explained, "Score's dad was in Slytherin, so it's likely he'll end up there too."

Sue gave Albus a look suggesting that he'd left his eyes, ears and common sense on the train.

"Scorpius won't end up in Slytherin," she said certainly, "he's not ambitious in the slightest. He told me he doesn't even know what he'll end up doing after school."

"So? Neither do I?"

"Well, would you consider yourself ambitious at all?"

"Well, no."

"Exactly," Sue said with a superior grin, "neither's Scorpius. I'm betting he'll end up in one of the other three houses."

"Oh? What exactly are you betting?"

"A bag of Devonshire fudge and a Dairy Milk."

"Dairy Milk?"

"It's chocolate, you sheltered weirdo."

"Hey! I am not sheltered!"

"You didn't recognise the most popular bar of chocolate in Britain!"

They were hushed by an irate looking Professor.

After J. Callahan was sorted into Hufflepuff, Albus muttered at Sue.

"Deal."

* * *

><p>It was the moment of judgement, and Sue and Albus shared a grin.<p>

He recognised that his side of the bet only had a one in four chance, but he felt hereditary was on his side. Not that he'd mind being wrong. Seeing Sue happy was nice, considering how she'd been when he first met her, and Score didn't seem too happy with the idea of being in Slytherin anyway. Besides, Score being in the same house as him was worth far more than a bag of fudge and a bar of unknown chocolate.

They watched as Score went up to the Sorting Hat and put it on. It had barely even touched his head before it yelled 'Gryffindor!' sounding just as confused as a lot of the people in the hall apparently felt, judging by the rumble of murmurs.

Sue turned and looked smug at him. He stuck his tongue out back at her, and secretly plotted a revenge that would probably never happen. She grinned and turned to wave at Score, stage miming for him to save them seats.

Score nodded, seeming absolutely bewildered, and made his way to the Gryffindor table.

After the Monmouths were put into Ravenclaw and P. Nott glided into Slytherin, Sue grinned at Albus.

"See you on the other side," she laughed before going to the hat.

Albus grinned, watching as she put the hat on. Nothing happened for a long, long time and Albus was starting to get worried. Eventually it called out Gryffindor, but seemed to do so reluctantly.

Sue grinned and gave him the thumbs up before scurrying over to sit next to Score.

Albus felt confident as he strode up to the hat, his dad had told him that if he asked the hat to put him in Gryffindor, it would. It had worked for Sue, so it would definitely work for him. He made himself comfortable, though, because he wanted to find out why it had taken the hat so long to put Sue into Gryffindor.

"Ah, a Potter."

"Yeah, a Potter," Albus replied, "I want to be in Gryffindor."

"Very well," the hat replied, "I'll put you in –"

"Wait a sec, what where you and Sue talking about?"

"She asked me how I could think and talk, in detail."

Albus mulled this over, "How can you think and talk?" He'd never thought about it before, 'it's magic' had always been a satisfactory answer. But now that he had thought about it, it wasn't really, there had to be more to it than that. He wondered if this was what life was always like for Sue.

"If I try to explain it, I'll be here all day. So be happy you're in Gryffindor!" the hat yelled the last part and there was cheering all around.

"This isn't over, hat," he muttered before he took it off.

Albus wandered over to the Gryffindor table, where Sue seemed to be defending Score from a couple of the other first years and Score seemed to be defending Sue from Steve Goldberg.

"Aww, come on, let me talk to her," Steve drawled, voice as deep as Score had imitated, but the accent was completely different. Albus almost laughed, you couldn't tell Americans by sight, after all.

"No," Score replied.

Steve chuckled, "she your girlfriend?"

"No."

"Then what's your problem?"

"Score's just protective, that's all," Albus said, sitting next to Steve, "Sue's had a hard time. Besides, aren't you a bit young to be hitting on people?"

"Gotta get in early," Steve shrugged, "all you Brits come here, right? So if I start now, I get the pick of the crop."

Score and Albus shared a confused look.

"Wait, are you thinking about _marriage_? You're eleven!"

"Twelve, actually," Steve shrugged, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Americans are weird," Albus muttered shaking his head.

"Just shut up already!" Sue snapped at a couple of the other students, "I'm first generation and he likes me just fine."

They recoiled and Albus leaned over.

"Besides, he's _my _friend."

"Right, right, sorry Potter!"

"Yeah!"

They turned away and talked among themselves.

"Thanks, Al, they wouldn't stop badmouthing Score," Sue said, shooting them a glare.

"No problem, if they give you guys anymore trouble, just let me know."

Score and Sue nodded.

"They must be easily intimidated then," Sue teased.

"Naw, they just don't wanna annoy the son of the Boy Who Lived," Steve replied, drinking his pumpkin juice.

"Huh?"

Albus' heart fell, he didn't really want to explain this. The spill over hero worship that James got in his first year gave him a big head, and it was likely that he'd get the same. So it was pretty much unavoidable that he would have to tell her.

Which he didn't want to do, because Score's father would undoubtedly come up.

"You know, I haven't died yet," Sue said with a raised eyebrow, "does that make me the 'Girl Who Lived'?"

"Uh, no," Albus said nervously, "they mean my dad, 'cause Voldemort tried to kill him when he was a baby and he survived."

"Who?" Sue asked.

"The leader of the Death eaters," Score explained quietly, "they hated non-magical people and first generation witches and wizards."

"They sound like the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants."

It was Albus and Score's turn to be confused.

"Y'know, from the X-men?"

"The X-men?"

Steve was trying not to laugh.

"Never mind," Sue sighed, "you guys are really sheltered, aren't you?"

"I'm not," Albus protested.

"Okay then, who's Superman?"

"... You may have a point."

Sue gave them a superior grin and Albus shared a look with Score, wondering what they were going to talk about with her.

Score coughed and struck up a conversation with Steve about where he was from, something that he was only too happy to talk about.

* * *

><p>The discussion turned to the merits of Quidditch over Quodpot during dessert, a conversation that was clearly going over Sue's head.<p>

"Okay," Steve said, "Quodpot has two teams of eleven and they need to get the Quod into the pot at the end of the field before it explodes-"

"It _explodes_?" Sue said, disbelievingly.

"It's not dangerous, just a messy bang. Like dynamite in Tom and Jerry."

"Oh, okay," Sue grinned, "so if you're holding it when it explodes you get covered in soot?"

"Yeah, that's it. You have to leave the field too, but if you get it into the pot before it explodes then your team gets a point."

"And you do this on a broom?"

Steve nodded.

"Wow, that sounds really fun."

"It is not!" Albus and Score said in unison.

Steve laughed, "oh yeah? At least Quodpot doesn't have a _seeker_."

"What's wrong with the seeker? My dad was a seeker when he was at school," Albus grumbled.

"Mine too," Score added.

"What's a seeker?" Sue asked.

"The seeker," Steve said, looking pre-emptively smug, "is the player in Quidditch who ends the match by catching the snitch. Not only that, but when they do, their team earns a hundred and fifty points."

Sue stared.

"A hundred and fifty points."

"Yeah," Steve grinned, "and each goal scored by a chaser is _ten_ points."

Sue looked unimpressed, "so let me get this straight, there's a position that essentially renders everyone else on the pitch useless."

"It's not like that," Albus protested, "the seeker who catches the snitch doesn't always guarantee that their team wins."

"Only if their opponent can score sixteen goals without conceding _any_."

Albus glared at Steve, this was all his fault. Somehow.

Albus and Score desperately tried to explain to Sue that Quidditch wasn't horrendously unfair, dessert came to an end. It wasn't long before teachers and prefects started herding them to their rooms.

Albus didn't like the smug look on Steve's face as they got changed for bed.

"You haven't won, you know."

"Oh, I think I have. It ain't your fault though, Quidditch just isn't very fair and if there's one thing I've learned about British Muggles, it's that they _love_ fair."

Before Albus could retaliate, Score interrupted.

"Can we argue about this tomorrow? I want to sleep."

"Fine," Albus said, "but you haven't won yet, Goldberg!"

"Keep telling yourself that, Potter," Steve grinned.

* * *

><p>Albus woke up in the middle of the night, he often did, and as he rearranged his covers in preparation for going back to sleep, he heard a noise. It sounded like footsteps.<p>

He sat up and poked his head out of the curtains on his bed.

"Score?"

The footsteps stopped.

"Al?" Sue asked from the darkness.

Albus climbed out of bed.

"Sue, what are you doing here?"

"Nothing," she mumbled, starting to leave.

"No wait, hang on."

Albus walked over quietly and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

She sniffed, "well... not really."

He gave her a soft smile, "wanna talk about it?"

Sue nodded.

"Let's talk in the common room," he said, putting an arm around her shoulders, "we won't wake anyone us down there."

Especially Steve, he thought, the last thing he wanted right now was to wake Steve.

He piloted Sue down the stairs and into the common room, sitting her on a sofa and taking a seat next to her.

"So, homesick?"

"Y-yeah," she sniffed, "I-I've never been away from home like this before. I mean, we went to Disney Land on a school trip in year four, but all my friends were there." She bit her lip for a moment and looked at the floor before continuing, "and I could call my parents."

"Oh," he deflated, "right. Mu- I mean, uh..."

"Technology."

"Technollygee, doesn't work here, does it?"

Sue shook her head, "I'm not going to be able to talk to my friends either."

Al frowned and shifted closer, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Your _other_ friends," he said clearly, "you've got new friends right here."

Sue sniffed again and looked up at him.

"R-really? We're friends?"

"Of course we are!" he beamed, "and not just us, Score's your friend too! And... I guess Steve is too." He almost pouted as he said that last part.

Sue laughed.

"Besides, I'm sure Rose will want to be your friend too when she gets to know you."

Sue smiled, "we're going to be a gang at this rate. We should call ourselves the Sharks, get the cool name before a rival gang shows up."

"No way, we should be the Marauders."

"That's a lame name," Sue protested, "besides, we're way too dorky to be marauding about the place."

"Speak for yourself," Al said petulantly.

Sue stuck her tongue out at him.

"I still think we should call ourselves the Sharks."

Al argued that it was a daft name and they didn't stop arguing about it until Sue fell asleep on Al's shoulder. He considered moving her, but she seemed so peaceful.

"Just another five minutes," he mumbled, patting her shoulder and resting his head on hers with a yawn, "then we go back to bed."

* * *

><p>Al's arm was asleep when he woke up, and there was an awful lot of noise in the dorm room.<p>

It all suspiciously sounded like 'Potter's got a girlfriend, Potter's got a girlfriend!'

He absentmindedly wondered where James had found a girl who was blind and deaf with incredibly low standards until the weight on his arm moved. This made him open his eyes and look down.

When he saw the auburn haired pillow he'd been using it all began to make horrifying sense.

"Ooh, quick move, Potter," Steve said with a smug smirk, "want to get ahead of the competition, huh?"

Al jumped and scrambled off the sofa, waking Sue up in the process.

"Ngh," she mumbled, sitting back up and rubbing her head.

The crowd dispersed when James came down from the common room.

"Hey! Leave him alone," he commanded, most of the younger Gryffindors ran for it.

He pushed through the ones who remained and glared at Albus.

"Way to go, brat, you live to embarrass me, don't you?"

"I didn't mean to!" Albus protested, "Sue couldn't sleep so I comforted her!"

"'Comforted her'?" James said with a deadpan expression, "is that what you're calling it now?"

Albus turned bright red.

"Wh-what? No! We didn't- we only met yesterday! We're eleven!"

Silence filled the common room until Steve broke it by bursting out into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

"Um, what's going on?" Sue asked, rubbing her head and looking incredibly confused, "did we fall asleep in the common room?"

"Mum's not going to be impressed that you snogged a girl you just met on your first day here," James said, trying to maintain the glare, but instead starting to grin, "and Dad's not going to be impressed that you did it in the common room."

"What? We didn't kiss or anything," Sue said, still confused, "we were talking and fell asleep."

"Oh, I guess that's good," James smiled, "Dad'll be glad to know he won't have grandchildren before you pass your OWLs." He held out a hand to Sue, "I'm James, it's nice to meet you."

She shook it, still confused, "um, hi? I'm Suzanne."

"Can I call you Sue?" He grinned when she nodded, "great, you should go get dressed and go down to breakfast. You don't want to be late, right?"

She shook her head, "um, okay."

He stepped out of her way and she went back to her dorm room.

When she was gone, James clapped Al on the shoulder, "nice one, she's pretty cute. I reckon Mum'll like her."

"James! This isn't funny!"

"Oh, of course it is, Al. It's hilarious."


	2. Chapter 2

"You seem cheerful," Al said to James as they walked to the great hall together.

"I am!" James grinned, "It's great to have a full night's sleep for once."

"That's good, have you talked to Master Banting?"

James shook his head, "Master Banting won't give me the sleeping draught on a regular basis, he keeps saying I'll get an addiction and dependency," he didn't look very happy, "but I do have an appointment this evening. Professor Aston is going to come with me, she's been talking to Professor Neville and they're pretty sure they've got a formula that I won't get dependent on."

Al nodded, "okay, but you've got some more, right?"

"Yeah, I've got about a week's worth. So I'll be human for a while yet, don't worry about it," James grinned, nudging Al with his shoulder.

Al chuckled and nudged back.

James gave him a sly look and slung an arm around his shoulders, "so, Sue eh?"

"Uh, yeah? What about her?"

"She's pretty, and seems nice too."

"She is, and she's pretty smart too," Al grinned, "she knows loads about science. She wants to be a jennytist when she grows up."

"Awesome," James grinned, "Suzanne Potter has kind of a ring to it, doesn't it?"

Al sputtered.

"Wh-what?"

"Well, maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but I reckon she's a good bet for who you'll end up marrying. Which is good, I like her so far. I mean, if she turns out to be a horrible cow, then obviously don't, but she doesn't seem like she will."

"James! I only just met her!"

"I know, but Mum met Dad on his first day here and Auntie Hermione and Uncle Ron. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if I married Penny."

Al was horrified.

"Look, James, knock it off. We're only eleven, for crying out loud."

James laughed, "you are so easy to rile, you know that?"

"Huh?"

"I was only messing with you, brat, besides, I'm getting a little 'I told you so' material together, just in case." He ruffled Al's hair, "you're adorable when you get embarrassed!"

Al tried to give his brother a light smack, but James ducked into the great hall, running to his friends.

* * *

><p>Al sat next to Steve, who was having a good time talking about the X-Men with Sue. Score was watching with a completely confused look, this was going straight over his head.<p>

"So, that's really the point I realised that Wolverine made no sense. I mean, those claws are longer than his forearms, and he never has any problems bending his wrists," Sue said, "and there's always the limitations of single generation mutations. Mutations can do some pretty drastic things, like taking away tails, but there are limits."

Steve nodded, "yeah, you can only suspend your disbelief so much. I think I could let the mutation thing go if his claws made more sense."

"Same here."

"Mutations can take away tails?" Al asked as he picked up a croissant to spread butter on.

Sue nodded, "yep, it's not how our ancestors lost their tails though, but it is how Manx cats lost theirs."

Score and Al shared a confused look.

"Our... ancestors had tails?" Al asked.

Sue nodded, "yeah, didn't you know that?"

"Um, no?"

"The shocking state of science education amongst the magical classes for you there," a smug voice said from behind Al.

"Yes, it's a terrible shame, really."

Al looked around to see the Monmouth twins. They didn't seem so much appalled by the state of science education amongst wizards as smugly amused by it.

"We thought we should introduce ourselves to the other muggle borns," the one on the left smiled.

"I'm Fraser Monmouth, and this is my brother Adair," the one on the right said, "the Viscount of Clackmannan."

Adair smiled.

"So, we heard one of you is a muggle born," Fraser smiled cheerfully, "it's always good to have people to talk to about normal things."

"First generation," Score said, "you should use the phrase 'first generation'."

Adair sneered, "ah, the Malfoy. Your reputation precedes you."

"We heard some things about your family," Fraser explained, "so forgive us for being rather suspicious of you."

"Oh, I heard those same things," Steve grinned, "and I was pleasantly surprised to find out they're wrong. He's friends with Sue here, and she's first generation like you guys, so don't worry about Score."

"And you are?" Adair asked with a sneer.

"Steve Goldberg, of the Massachusetts Goldbergs, mom worked her way up from the streets of Harlem though. Just your average genius."

"Your mum's a muggle?" Fraser asked with a smile.

Steve nodded.

"We should hang out some time then."

Adair gave Fraser a hard look before turning to Sue.

"So, what might your name be?"

"Um, Suzanne."

Adair smiled.

"We're, um, having a little get together in the south courtyard Saturday afternoon," Fraser said nervously, "it starts at four, we're, um, hoping to see you there."

"Oh, okay," Sue smiled, "I'll be there."

Adair nodded, "let's go, Fraser."

The twins walked off, Fraser hastily apologising to his brother.

"Fraser seems nice," Steve said after a moment's silent, "Adair reminds me of my cousins."

"Your pureblood cousins?" Al asked.

Steve nodded, "he's got that same air of... self importance."

"You mean being posh twits," Sue said offhandedly before trying a kipper and making a face.

"Well, you could put it that way."

"I'm gonna, 'cause they're aristocracy, and proper aristocracy, not 'might as well be' aristocracy, or think they're aristocracy. I mean, come on, Adair has a title."

Al, Score and Steve looked at each other in mild confusion.

Al was surprised to heat Sue be so harsh, but then again, everything she'd said before had been friendly, gently explanatory, happily curious or outright miserable. It wasn't like there was nothing that she'd be annoyed or angry at, but he was surprised it was this.

"What?" she asked, "do you think wizards are the only people to be told they're inferior to others because of blood? It happens to the rest of us too, and we _hate_ it."

"So, um, why are you going to their do?" Al asked.

Sue shrugged, "Fraser Monmouth is right, it would be nice to have people to talk to about normal things. I guess I'm going so the other first generation witches and wizards know I'm here. It's hard to know who is and who isn't."

Al, Score and Steve shared another look.

Al felt a little hurt by that, and he guessed Steve and Score did too. It wasn't nice to be told that you can't understand someone else, even if it was completely true. He kept this to himself and so did the other two.

"Anyway, you'll be coming with me, right guys?"

"Huh?"

"Well, Steve talks about normal stuff, and you guys might not understand, but you're not condescending or anything." That last part sounded very important when she said it. "So I doubt the other first generation witches and wizards would mind you being there."

"I dunno, Adair might," Steve mumbled.

"Who cares? Fraser doesn't seem to mind so much, and it's his party too."

Al, Score and Steve shared another look.

"Well... if it won't be a problem," Score mumbled shyly.

Al and Steve nodded in agreement.

Sue beamed.

"Great!"

Al wondered when Sue had gotten them wrapped around her little finger, and he wondered if this was going to last long.

* * *

><p>There was no clue to the duration of Sue's hold on them that day, but there was an embarrassing moment where the three of them knocked into each other trying to help her.<p>

The previous night Al, Score and Steve had been busy trying to help cheer Sue up and distracting her from her misery and existential angst. Apparently they'd also distracted her from pretty much everything else too.

She didn't understand why the post came by owl.

"What's wrong with the Royal Mail? I know it's not the most reliable of postal services, but at least it doesn't moult."

She was terribly confused by the moving staircases, not just by how to navigate them, but what the point of them was as well.

"I just don't understand, why not just build the school around a back bone of staircases? Why did the architect plan it this way? This doesn't make sense!"

She jumped at the moving paintings and nearly screamed when one of them talked.

"Why? Why can they do that? Who thought this was a good idea?"

The final straw, though, came when they got to the potions classroom. This was when Al, Score and Steve learned that Sue had never seen a ghost before.

She was talking to Steve and standing next to a Slytherin girl when the Bloody Baron floated past.

Sue stared at him, going as white as a sheet and Al finally understood what the phrase 'like they've seen a ghost' really meant. She didn't scream like she had at the paintings, she just made this tiny whimpering noise and her eyes rolled up back into her head as she passed out.

All three of her friends went to catch her at the same time, banging their heads together in the process. Thankfully, the Slytherin girl managed to catch her.

The girl was remarkably tall, and really strong; as she picked Sue up. But then again, Sue was rather small.

She glared at Al, Score and Steve.

"Don't just stand there catching flies, get the potions mistress," she snapped.

Al nodded and quickly scurried into the classroom, where a slightly frazzled looking woman was stirring a cauldron.

"Professor Aston! Sue's fainted!"

The woman looked up, "a student's fainted? Where is she?"

"She's just outside."

Aston nodded, "come here and keep stirring this. Don't stop unless it turns blue."

Al was confused, but went to do as he was told as Aston went outside to help Sue.

The potion turned blue just as the Slytherin girl carried Sue in with Score and Steve following her as people often do when they think someone can't carry something fragile by themselves. She almost snarled at them.

Professor Aston walked up to Al, "come with me, Mr Potter, and we'll look after your friend. Everyone else!" she turned and looked at her class, who were shuffling in, "sit down and behave yourselves. I trust you have your textbooks, so I want you to read up on the forgetfulness potion in the meantime. I promise to make it up to you when I get back, okay?"

The class murmured in agreement and Aston led Al, Score, Steve and the Slytherin girl into her office.

"Put her down on the sofa, Miss Khan."

Khan nodded and put her down on the sofa.

"She fainted because she saw a ghost, Professor. I think she's a muggle born."

"Which ghost might that be?" Aston asked, putting her hand to Sue's forehead.

"The Bloody Baron."

"Ah, well, he is something of a shock to the uninitiated. He threw me for a loop when I first met him, I can't imagine what it's like for someone who's not used to the idea of ghosts."

After a moment, Aston stood up, "Miss O'Sullivan will be fine, she just fainted from shock. She should wake up of her own accord in a moment."

The three boys sighed in relief.

"What about you three?" Khan asked, raising her eyebrow at them, "you smacked your heads together pretty hard there."

Aston looked confused, "they smacked their heads? Did they faint too?"

Al, Score and Steve looked at the floor awkwardly.

"Uh, no, we've um..."

"We're used to ghosts," Score added.

"Yeah, this was just an accident," Steve finished.

"In short, they smacked their heads against each other's trying to play prince charming," Khan said with a roll of her eyes.

Professor Aston smiled and made an 'aww'ing sound, "that's so cute! I'm sure it'll cheer Miss O'Sullivan up to hear that when she wakes up."

Al, Score and Steve were protesting this when Sue did wake up.

"Wh-what happened?" she asked, sitting up.

"You saw the Bloody Baron," Khan said, crouching so she was at eyelevel with Sue, "it made you faint."

"Oh, well, I've never seen a ghost before," Sue mumbled in embarrassment, "I didn't even know they were real until now."

"That's rather obvious," Khan said, standing and holding a hand out to help Sue up.

Sue blushed as she took Khan's hand and stood up.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"It's not your fault, you're muggle born after all."

"Hey!" Score snapped, "you leave her alone!"

Khan gave him a hard look.

"If I'd left her alone then she might have gotten hurt," she replied coldly, "don't think that just because you're a Malfoy that I'm going to let you walk all over me."

Score looked a little menaced as Khan turned back to Sue.

"I'm Vasanti Khan, it's nice to meet you."

"Um, I'm Sue, Sue O'Sullivan."

"I know."

"Oh, um, okay," Sue replied, turning pink.

"As adorable as this all is, I really do have a class to teach, so can we get a shift on please?" Professor Aston asked.

Al silently agreed, grabbing Sue and pulling her away from Khan. Score and Steve followed them, and they all sat around Sue.

Sue was terribly confused by all this, whereas Khan seemed amused as she sat next to another Slytherin.

"I don't like her," Al muttered to Score.

"Me neither," Score mumbled back.

Steve hummed in agreement.

Sue glared at them.

"Vasanti hasn't done anything, so stop being rude."

The three boys grumbled but acquiesced.

"Still don't like her," Al mumbled.

"Mr Potter, I would greatly appreciate you and your friends being quiet. I do have a class to teach here."

Al shut up and looked chastened.

"Right," Aston said clapping her hands together, "a new year and a set of wonderful young minds to teach how to do potions right."

If Al remembered what Professor Neville had said correctly, Professor Aston had really disliked the last potion's master, which was going to be awkward for Rose, he was a good friend of Aunt Hermione's.

Professor Aston smiled, taking her frazzled hair out of her bun and putting it back into a ponytail, "so, welcome to potions! There's a lot to learn here, the magnificent beauty of a simmering cauldron and it's shimmering fumes, the delicate power of clever liquids that work their way through human veins to bewitch the mind, ensnare the senses and change the drinker in subtle, or not so subtle ways. Not that I can really expect all of you to appreciate it as much as I do, not because you're not clever or talented, but because to appreciate the beauty and power of potions takes so much more time and study than you'll be able to give, or want to. Some of you will be great transfigurators, charmers, historians or herbologists and regretfully won't have time to learn to love the subtle intricacies of potions. Hopefully though," she grinned, "I can teach you enough for some appreciation at least."

She walked to the potion and poured herself a goblet of its contents.

"Potions is an art, a fine craft, no, more than just that, it's a science as well as an art. The science is being exact with your measurements, but the art is to know when to try something new. Over the course of these next seven years, I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory and even," she drank the goblet, "put a stopper in _death_."

She then went, moved the cauldron to one side and stuck her hand in the fire.

The entire class gasped, muggle born , pureblood and everything in between.

Professor Aston pulled her hand out of the fire, while it was still burning, and with a soft puff of breath the fire went out.

Her hand was completely unmarked, although her sleeve was ruined.

The classroom was silent for a moment before the students broke into clapping and cheering.

"Wow!" Sue said to Al, "that's amazing! I hope she teaches us how to do that!"

"I know! That's really cool!"

Now she had the class's attention, she proceeded to have them attempt to make a forgetfulness potion.

"This is the most difficult potion in your textbooks," she told them as she walked around the classroom, "so don't worry if you don't get it right the first time. By the end of this year, this will be a breeze for you. We'll be making this periodically throughout the year so you can see how well you're doing. But today, this is more for fun than anything, so relax."

She stopped by Al, Score, Steve and Sue's bench a little while later.

"Ah, are you feeling okay now, Miss O'Sullivan?" she asked with a gentle smile.

Sue nodded enthusiastically, "I'm great Miss Aston! That was amazing!"

Professor Aston smiled, "we call the teachers here 'Professor', Miss O'Sullivan. I'm not sure why though," she leaned in and murmured to them conspiratorially, "I think it's so Professor Binns can feel special."

They quietly giggled and Professor Aston straightened, "well, I'm glad to see you're okay Miss O'Sullivan, if you four have any questions, just let me know."

"Actually, Professor," Sue said looked a bit nervous, "I could use some help, I don't understand imperial."

"Ah, I see, well, you're not the first. Hold on a moment and I'll get some sheets explaining."

She went back to her desk, "does anyone need an explanatory sheet for imperial?" she called.

Al was surprised to see every single muggle born, and some who weren't, raise their hands.

Professor Aston sighed and went to hand out sheets.

After that, everyone got on with their work. Not silently, Professor Aston didn't much care for silence it seemed, but at a low rumble. It seemed that as long as she could hear any cries for help, she didn't care if it was particularly quiet.

When the lesson ended, everyone packed up and started to leave.

Sue was being a little awkward, having trouble with scrolls in her backpack.

"Oh, come on, Sue, we don't have all day!" Al laughed.

"It's not funny!" she snapped before scrunching everything down, "there, happy now?"

"I don't think the professors will be happy to read work written on that," Steve said sagely.

"Oh, like it'll matter, no one can read my handwriting anyway, especially when I don't write on lined paper."

Al was going to say something about this, but he felt someone come up and loom behind him. He froze before turning and looking up.

Khan was smirking down at him.

"Oh shut up!"

"I didn't say anything," she pointed out, stepping past him and walking to Sue, "hello."

"Um, hi."

"Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"Um, yeah, thanks for helping me."

"It's not a problem, you're not very heavy."

It took a moment for Sue to realise what that meant.

"Y-you carried me into Professor Aston's office?"

Khan nodded and Sue kept staring until Score interrupted.

"We're going to be late if we don't go now," he pointed out.

"I'll see you all later then," Khan said with a smile, "bye O'Sullivan."

"B-bye Vasanti," she replied as Khan walked away.

Right then, Al didn't hate anyone as much as he hated Vasanti Khan.

* * *

><p>They'd barely missed being late to their next lesson.<p>

Professor Patil was introducing them to the most basic of transfiguration spells.

Score was dutifully working, Sue kept asking awkward questions and Al and Steve were talking about Khan.

"I don't like her," Al said.

"I'm not sure I like her too much either," Steve agreed, "I mean, yeah, she helped Sue, but she's being all creepy about it."

"Yeah," Al nodded.

Sue was asking Professor Patil how the mass was converted if the thing that was being transfigured wasn't quite big enough for a direct mass to mass conversion for the thing it was being transfigured into.

Patil looked as though she was one step away from rubbing her temples and three steps off cracking and using an Unforgivable Curse on Sue.

"O'Sullivan, you're eleven, the ins and outs of theoretical transfiguration aren't going to help you turn this cup into a saucer. So _stop asking_," she said finally, in a strained voice.

Sue's face fell, but she did as she was told.

Al and Steve shared a concerned look, but Score was already comforting her. Al heard him whisper something about being able to see if he could find anything in the school library about it for her. She thanked him quietly and went back to failing to turn a cup into a saucer.

"I'm not sure I like Professor Patil," Steve muttered as he turned his cup into a cup with a slightly different pattern and a slightly shallower bowl.

"She's an old school friend of mine and Rose's parents."

"Oh, right, Rose. She that redhead who was giving Score the stinkeye last night?"

Al nodded, casting a spell and doing a marginally better job than Steve. At least the handle had disappeared for him.

"Our dads don't like his dad much."

"I heard, some pretty serious stuff went down here back in the day, didn't it?"

Al nodded, "I think it changed Mr Malfoy, since Score doesn't seem to hate muggles. He kinda seems to, I dunno." He didn't really, he didn't know Score at all, whatever his opinion on muggles was; Al didn't have a clue. What could he expect though? He'd only known Score a day.

On the plus side though, he clearly didn't hate muggle borns, judging by how he was trying to cheer Sue up. He seemed to be doing a pretty good job too as he managed to get a smile out of her.

"Hey, Al?" Steve asked, watching Score and Sue, "you jealous of Score right now?"

"Huh? No?"

Steve grinned, "I'm not either."

Al gave him a confused look.

"I just wanted to know if you were, 'cause I was thinking there was a difference between seeing Khan looking after Sue and Score looking after her. I was wondering if you thought so too."

Al thought about it for a moment.

"Yeah, there is. 'Cause he's one of us."

Steve smiled, and there was something just a little bit sad about it.

"I hope we're still 'Us' in January," he murmured just before Patil came to check on their work and give them a few pointers.

Al didn't understand why January was such a big deal, but he hoped they were still 'Us' by then too.

* * *

><p>"I don't approve of how Professor Patil treated Sue," Score said sullenly at lunch.<p>

"Me neither Score, but what can we do about it?" Steve asked, poking at his pie.

Al looked around to see if Sue was back from the back from the girl's toilets.

"I could ask my dad to talk to Professor Patil about it, they did know each other at school."

"You need to let her fight her own battles."

Rose sat next to Al, in Sue's seat and buried her face in her hands.

"Running to your dad every time your girlfriend is in trouble isn't gonna end well."

"Hey, Sue's not in trouble," Al protested, "and she's not my girlfriend!"

Rose turned her head and looked at him through her fingers, "you slept with her using your shoulder as a pillow."

"I was only trying to comfort her! We fell asleep arguing about what to call our gang."

"Your gang?"

"Yeah, me, you, Sue, Steve and Score. I think we should call ourselves the Marauders."

Rose squinted at him, "'Score'? Jeez, Al, does James know about this?"

"Um, not yet."

"I bet he's just gonna be ecstatic when he finds out," she said, putting her head up and rubbing her hands down her face in the process.

"Er, is something wrong? You seem kinda stressed?" Steve asked warily as Score resolutely didn't look at Rose.

"I've not had a good morning, there's this guy who's been rubbing me the wrong way all morning. I mean, we had our first flying lesson today and he flew to the top of a tower and _jumped off_."

"He had his broom though, right?" Al asked, not really getting it.

"Oh, oh yeah he did. He just didn't use it until he fell into the main courtyard."

All three boys stared at her until Sue broke the silence.

"Um, excuse me? I think you're in my, um seat."

Rose turned and looked up at Sue.

"Oh, sorry," Rose smiled as she stood up, "I just needed to talk to Al about something. I'm Rose, you must be Sue."

She held out her hand with a winning smile and Sue took it with a confused look.

"Make sure not to break my baby cousin's heart, he's delicate and I'd hate to break your kneecaps. You've got nice knees."

"Rose!"

"Um, I'm sorry, but we're not dating. We only met yesterday."

Sue gave Al an imploring look.

"She right! We've only just met, so stop threatening her!"

Rose cackled with laughter.

"Oh my god, you fell for that? Wait 'til I tell James!"

She walked off with a wide grin and a half wave at the group.

"Who was that?" Sue asked as she sat down.

"Oh, just my cousin Rose," Al explained with a pout and a petulant whine to his voice. He missed the days when James had thought he was too cool to hang out with him and Rose, she didn't make fun of him back then.

"The one who'll join the Sharks?"

"We're calling ourselves the Marauders, Sue."

"No way, that's a lame name. What kind of gang calls themselves the Marauders?"

"Wait, wait," Steve interrupted before Al could explain that a _totally awesome_ one does, "we have a gang?"

"Um, well," Sue mumbled, blushing in embarrassment, "we were kinda hoping we would."

Score and Steve shared a look.

"Well, alright. I don't see the harm," Score said, "but we're not going to do anything stupid are we?"

"Of course not!" Al said with a grin, "we're just gonna hang out, do homework and fight evil."

"Sounds good to me," Steve smiled, holding out his hand, "we're gonna need an oath though."

Sue put her hand on his, "right, what do you think it should be Al?"

He put his on top of hers.

"We solemnly swear that we're up to no good," he said, like it was obvious.

Score frowned as he put his hand on top of Al's.

"That doesn't make sense, Al, if we're going to fight evil, then we must be up to good."

"He's got a point, big guy."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Al conceded, "but what should it be?"

"How about 'Cry God for Harry, England and St George!'," Steve suggested.

"Don't bring my dad into this."

Sue laughed.

"What's so funny?" Al demanded.

"That's Shakespeare, dummy."

"Oh."

"Here's another one for you, 'Let us go in content, To liberty and not to banishment.'"

"More Shakespeare?" Sue asked.

"Yup, I got bored once and read all his plays."

"I don't know," Score said thoughtfully, "maybe we should decide on a name first. Then a code?"

"I like the Sharks," Steve grinned at Sue. She beamed back.

"Nooo, the Marauders," Al protested.

"We could be the Marauding Sharks," Score suggested.

"No way! We should be the Sharkey Marauders!"

They stared at him before laughing.

"Okay, okay, let's put this to a vote," Steve chuckled, "all for the Marauders say aye."

"Aye!"

"All for the Sharks?"

"Aye!"

"Aye!"

"Aye."

Al glared at them.

"You're all traitors, you know that?"

They shared a look before grinning at him.

"Aye," they said in unison.

"So, it's decided," Score said, trying not to laugh, "from this day forth, we are the Sharks of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."


End file.
